A MAN from Basingstoke travelled 170 miles to take his friend to hospital after an ambulance failed to turn up in time.

Steve Trumm, 63, a semi-retired train driver was in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, for work on Tuesday, October 22, when he received a call that a vulnerable tenant who lives in a property he owns in Ipswich, was "laying on the floor and couldn't move."

Steve called 111 at 10pm and was assured that an ambulance would be on the way to assist his tenant, a Ukrainian refugee, and subsequently "nodded off."

He said: "I woke up at 1.30am to a message and discovered she was still in the house in Ipswich and was trying to crawl up the stairs.

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Stev Trumm's vanStev Trumm's van (Image: Steve Trumm)

"I made some more calls to 111 and was told that it would take 12 hours for an ambulance to come."

Steve explained how he got into his khaki-painted Mercedes Sprinter, emblazoned with a matching Union Flag, which he uses to transport supplies to help people in Ukraine, and made his way down to Suffolk to help his tenant.

"At this point, I decided to get in my van and drive to her myself, I left at 2am and by 5am she was in hospital. My partner got the train from Basingstoke to Ipswich to take my place later on as I had to go back to work"

He explained that the 25-year-old woman that he is helping is "alone in the country and doesn't have anyone else who can help her.

"After everything she has been through, she doesn't trust the NHS anymore."

Steve explained how the incident is "one of a few reasons I will look to stand for councillor in next year's election.

"The NHS is falling apart and we can't trust ambulances to turn up.

"If you need urgent evacuation by an ambulance, you might not get one."

A spokesperson for East of England Ambulance Service told the Gazette:

"We received several 999 calls on Tuesday evening and in the early hours of Wednesday morning regarding the patient’s back pain.]

"At the time, our service was experiencing severe pressure. The patient and her landlord were advised of delays in receiving an ambulance response and given advice to call back if her condition worsened.

"As an ambulance service we must prioritise patients based on clinical need. An ambulance was dispatched to the patient’s address twice, but on both occasions these ambulances had to be diverted to more serious medical emergencies.

"We were subsequently informed that the patient had made her own way to hospital and her request for an ambulance was cancelled."